Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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“Chimps Are Off The Hill”

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A couple of years ago, Caregiver Anthony wrote a blog about some of the lingo we use around the sanctuary. As staff prepare for the day to end, one of the things we do is a head count of each chimpanzee to ensure they are off of Young’s Hill and aren’t out in the cold at night. When we are able to close off Young’s Hill (at Jamie’s discretion that is), we announce over the radio “the chimps are off the hill.” It is one of the more common announcements made over the radio that can be heard around the sanctuary.

As J.B. mentioned a couple of months ago, the construction around the Young’s Hill expansion and The Bray is picking up. Well, we have reached the point of that blog where Jamie’s group will not have access to Young’s Hill for a little bit. As caregivers, we are obviously conflicted by this. On one hand, they will not have access to Young’s Hill. On the other hand, their outside habitat is expanding and Cy’s group will get the opportunity to venture into The Bray. Plus there’s the addition of new climbing structures and flora for them to interact with. There are cost and benefits to everything, and I personally think the benefits are astronomical in comparison to the cost of some time off Young’s Hill.

So please excuse the hiatus of seeing photos of the chimpanzees on Young’s Hill. They will still have access to their greenhouse, which still provides them with fresh air and sunshine during this time.

And enjoy these recent photos!

Missy and Annie on their morning patrol before coming in to make way for construction.

Terry enjoying one of his favorite food puzzles: Boomer Balls!

Honey B falling into slumber while watching the humans clean.

Cy catching up on his reading during National Read a Book Day!

Honey B enjoying lunch in the Oakwood Greenhouse!

Photos o’ the Day

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Negra, enjoying the morning sun:

Foxie and one of her many legless dolls:

Burrito, exhibiting his “come and chase me outside” look:

Foxie and her salt-and-pepper arm hair:

Jamie, scanning the hill for leftover forage:

Jody, pant-hooting and pant-grunting upon Burrito’s entry into the greenhouse:

Grooming with Missy and Annie

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Find someone that looks at you the way Annie looks at Missy. But make sure you have separate hobbies or something like that because, to be honest, Annie can be a bit clingy at times.

Seriously, Annie is a completely different person than she was when she first arrived over 14 years ago. She’s far more confident and secure. And I would attribute that in large part to the thousands upon thousands of hours she has spent grooming with her best friend Missy.

Mission: Impossible

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Sometimes the forages on Young’s Hill contain a few extra special treats – something even better than the oranges and primate chow you are currently enjoying.

If you, like Missy here, are lucky enough spot such a treat – a coconut, for example – your work has only begun. Because retrieving the prize may require a daring mission.

You must be stealthy. Drawing attention to the presence of such a treat will only invite competition.

Get in, get out, and no one will be the wiser.

Now, look around. Did anyone see you or the coconut?

Is the coast clear?

Good. Time to grab the loot and escape unnoticed.

Carefully.

Gracefully.

Like a jewel thief.

There is no coconut and you were never there.

Whoopsie daisy…

At least she stuck the landing. And kept the coconut!

Jamie, on the other hand, has no need to fear her coconut being stolen and thus can avoid the indignity of falling off a tightrope.

Negra is a strictly terrestrial mammal regardless of the situation but managed to find some goodies nonetheless.

Jody also enjoyed the forage.

As did Foxie.

Annie found some primate chow placed atop the termite mound. But I think what she really wanted was some of that coconut.

Perhaps Missy found it in her heart to share?

Grooming with Honey B

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Since she was integrated into a larger group, Honey B has been making new friends, reuniting with old ones, and spending time with her half-sisters. Here she grooms with half sister, Rayne, and her old friend, Terry. Or rather, here she is being groomed. Honey B doesn’t do much grooming herself. Without knowing more you might think of that as an indication of dominance, but instead it seems to be more of a quirk. At least one study suggests that chimps with significant human interaction at a young age exhibit deficits in grooming behavior as adults, even when they are integrated into a group and engage in other social behaviors like playing. As far as I’m aware, Honey B didn’t have significantly more human interaction when she was young compared to the others in her group, but you would swear she was raised as a pet or performer if you didn’t know better. Perhaps some chimps are just more susceptible to the effects of human rearing.

In any case, it’s moments like this that make the integration process worth it.

You asked…let’s answer! (Pt. II)

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More of your questions answered! (see Part I here and an additional answer here)

How do you administer their medications?

The chimps take a number of different medications for both acute and chronic conditions. Most medications are mixed with smoothie, juice, or Gatorade and served to the chimps in a cup through the mesh. This is the easiest way to make sure each chimp gets the correct medication and to ensure that they took the entire dose. Each morning, the person serving as 2nd Staff is responsible for preparing medications in labeled cups, which they then set on trays to be served along with their meals.

Some of these medications are nearly tasteless while others have a bitter or metallic flavor that cannot be covered up by any amount of juice, in which case we will try things like yogurt or honey. For some drugs, we’ve learned the only way to get the chimps to take them is to have them microencapsulated at a specialized compounding pharmacy. This is a process in which the medication is prepared in tiny particles which are then covered in a tasteless coating – imagine a bunch of Advil tablets but 1/500th the size. The microencapsulated drug can then be mixed into a yogurt or other food without throwing off the taste. It’s expensive but worth every penny when a sick chimp is reluctant to take their meds.

The chimps all differ in how easily they will take medications. For Negra, we go straight for the pineapple coconut juice – she generally won’t take meds in anything else. Gordo is similarly stubborn. He will even spit all of the liquid out onto the floor or a piece of cardboard, sift out any undissolved medication, and slurp it back up. And if he senses too much undissolved medication, he will spit it right back in your face.

Most of the chimps allow us to hold the cup and pour the juice or smoothie into their mouths, but some insist on holding the cup themselves. Burrito is one who must hold his own cup and when he’s done, he delights in letting it drop and even throwing it down to the ground. Others, like Honey B, politely wait for us to come back and take it from them so as not to cause a fuss. One time I got sidetracked after giving Cy his cup and when I returned a couple minutes later, he was still holding it up and waiting for me to collect it.

Some medications are given topically, as in the case of antiseptics for wounds or even lotions or salves for dry, cracked skin. For these, we encourage the chimps to cooperate through positive reinforcement training.

The most difficult time to give medications is in the days following a procedure, when the chimps are still recovering from anesthesia. Unfortunately, this is often the most critical time to give drugs like analgesics and antibiotics. We make sure to give long-acting injectable drugs while they are still in the clinic, but eventually we have to beg and plead for them to take them orally. We will try anything. Some of you may remember Burrito’s late night medication-stuffed bagels. There is no better sense of accomplishment than when a sick chimpanzee finally takes the medication they need to recover.

Are the chimps on any type of birth control?

Yes, all of the females that regularly cycle, with the exception of Annie, are given hormonal birth control each morning. One reason to give birth control is, as you might have guessed, to prevent pregnancy – we are doing this for the females in the newly integrated group until we can see who copulates and/or confirm that the males are still sterile from the vasectomies they were given years ago. So far it’s still just Terry and Dora copulating on occasion, but you can’t be too careful. But there are other medical reasons to administer birth control hormones. Jamie, for example, was put on birth control to suppress the normal anogenital swelling associated with her cycle, which we worried might increase the pain and discomfort of her anal fistulas. Jody was placed on birth control due to a uterine fibroid and abnormal menstrual bleeding.

Of course, birth control isn’t the only medication we administer on a daily basis. Some chimps, like Burrito and Cy, take medications to manage their heart disease. Others, like Foxie and Negra, take medications to manage pain associated with arthritis. Just like us, the list of medications grows longer as they grow older. This morning, Anna prepared 29 different medications and supplements for our 16 chimpanzees – and that was just the a.m. dose!